


Netherfield Market

by KatherineRose2000



Category: Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatherineRose2000/pseuds/KatherineRose2000
Summary: A short, modern grocery store spin.
Relationships: Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	Netherfield Market

_Netherfield Market_

Darcy glanced out the window.

Five minutes before he’d seen Mrs. Bennet pull up in her little silver Buick and snatch Elizabeth off the grocery store floor by the elbow. They were still out there in front, Mrs. Bennet gesticulating wildly, Elizabeth with a pinched look clearly trying to reason with her. Caroline talked about it in the break room — Elizabeth’s refusal of a date with Billy Collins, the pompous young guy who just started working with her dad at the tiny law office. Mrs. Bennet’s matchmaking plans foiled. (How Caroline found out was anyone’s guess.)

He glanced again, though he didn’t suppose he had a right to be concerned after Elizabeth all but told him to go to hell six months ago when he revealed, very badly, his strange affinity for her. Which was terribly inconvenient for him, because now he was definitely in love.

Of course, she didn’t hate him as much as she did then. They were...friendly now. Furtive glances. She wasn’t repulsed when he helped her carry the boxes out for stocking. They even hung out in groups on occasion after work with Jane and Charlie and Charlotte and Caroline. Sometimes she’d hit him with one of her clever jokes in the break room. And he thought that she saved a certain smile only for him — but then she generally had high spirits. 

It hadn’t taken long after that horrible fight for him to quickly look past his anger and see to the justifiable objections she had to his suit. He had been arrogant, so sure she would accept, that she would be grateful, even, that he had looked at her. Thinking back on that time and how he acted was...abhorrent. He was just glad Elizabeth was so gracious about it. Which of course only made him admire her more.

So. Friends had a right to be concerned. 

It appeared she dropped one last bomb before walking off. Her mother looked stricken, then began shouting after her again. Elizabeth ignored her. 

Darcy watched her storm back inside, visibly upset, and his feet followed without conscious thought.

~~~

Elizabeth went all the way to storage before stopping. Her arms folded around her and one hand came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She took a deep breath. 

Darcy had been all too right about her family. Painfully right, and she was sure he, along with everyone else saw the whole thing through the window. Or at least heard it. No doubt Caroline would fill them in if they hadn’t. 

And her dad! Ha. He didn’t try to enforce the date, but likewise he felt no need to intervene on her behalf. It was amusing to him, the indolent small town lawyer. It didn’t matter to him that being set up with Billy Collins brought tears of shame and rage to her eyes. Never had she been more aware of the evils of his indifference.

And, well. There was more than one reason to be upset. 

This proof of familial weakness… Darcy would never… Not now... It was bad enough that he was her supervisor and his family owned the place. Many of these places across the country. Elizabeth was just a clerk getting through college, whose parents were now throwing a bumbling, overweight, chronically smelly man-child at her, and creating scenes in front of her work. Great. It was ironic how she fully agreed with him now about the disparity of their circumstances.

Elizabeth was off in her head and it wasn’t until he got closer that she noticed. Turning around found him staring at her blankly across the room, a little out of breath. That evil curl was on his forehead and she lamented at the sight of it. Oh, this _was_ humiliating. 

She stared at him, and he stared at her, and then in two seconds he was there. 

“I mean, I know I’m my mother’s least favorite, but she’s never come down that hard on me before,” Elizabeth said into his shirt. He tensed like he wanted to say something. She was grateful he didn’t. 

He pulled away and looked down at her with that pinch between his brows that she had always thought meant he was disapproving of her. All those times she was sure she was going to be pulled into the office and fired the next day. 

It didn’t matter now though, because he was going to kiss her. Elizabeth was somehow, wildly, absolutely sure Darcy was going to kiss her. Even after all that crap she put him through and the horrible things she said to him, and her family being kind of the worst, and that time she was sure he was gone for good, and then his aunt showing up and threatening to fire her and his (inexplicably) coming back and her _not_ losing her job.

Bingley rounded the corner. “Hey Darcy— oh, ok.” He backed out quickly and disappeared. 

Darcy made a strangled noise. Elizabeth laughed nervously. “He’s still got a lot to learn.” 

“Yes, that is why I’m training him.” Darcy? Sounded cool as a cucumber. But his face looked just as raw and uncertain as she felt. 

“I know," she threw back, hoping to salvage whatever little she could in the situation, "he must really be a bad student if you’ve had to stay on this long.”

Darcy was silent for a moment. “Actually...I have a confession. Elizabeth, they wanted me back in the offices after a month.”

Her mouth opened a little and he colored. 

“Well,” she tried for a wry look, “that does give me more faith in Charlie as the new owner. And explains why Caroline sticks around. Wait...so you’re technically not my boss?”

That cracked a small smile from him. “No, technically I'm not. Which is a good thing, because..." he trailed off. "Listen, I’m probably not supposed to ask this, and I’ll leave you alone forever if you... and we would just be friends, still. I hope?"

She stared at him, waiting for him to finish. He swallowed. "Would you have lunch with me sometime?” 

Well it was clear he was at least a little scarred from her last rejection. Elizabeth smiled up at him. “Sometime? I get off for lunch in five minutes. We could sit in the break room and do dinner somewhere instead. If that’s ok,” she said, suddenly feeling presumptuous and shy.

He squeezed her hands. “ _Yes_ , that’s ok.”

She relaxed. “Good. But I still have five minutes.”

“No, you don’t.”

“I didn’t know your skills extended to time manipulation.” 

“One of my many talents.”

They went to the large buffet section (it was one of _those_ grocery stores), and got trays and sat outside. Away from Caroline. And proceeded with a few more slightly awkward, but necessary, conversations detailing every unsaid iota worth relaying of the past few months, and by the end they were holding hands under the table. Discretely. Elizabeth would teach him to loosen up some other time.

Then later, after work there was dinner at a nice restaurant, and then after that there may or may not have been a kiss. And an uncharacteristic fist pump from Darcy in the car on his way home.

The end.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally had this in a P&P collection, but decided to split all those fics into their own things (believe me, I loath myself for reposting) because I felt that they might have been too different for some people put altogether like that.


End file.
